The Supreme Court’s 21st Century Trajectory in Criminal Cases

With the recent, important changes in the composition of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Court has eff ectively pushed the field of criminal law and procedure into new and occasionally unintended directions. Generally, the decisions have not appeared especially partisan or ideologically driven. Nor does any particular alignment of justices regularly manifest itself. There have, however, been several interesting cases that suggest certain trends for the future—in particular, noteworthy developments in sentencing, the death penalty, and Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. Some of these cases were decided before all of the personnel changes took place, but they remain relevant in terms of identifying trends...